FOXBORO – The 93 tackles he registered in 2013 were a career high, the eight sacks he totaled last year matched his best.

As good as that was, though, Rob Ninkovich will tell you it wasn’t good enough.

“I’m going to have a better year than I did last year. That’s my goal,” the Patriots defensive end said Tuesday. “I prepare myself to be a better player.

“Every year you gain confidence, knowledge, as opposed to when you’re younger you’re questioning yourself, you’re saying, ‘Can I make this play?’ Now I know I’ve done it, I’ve been there, I’ve played in the biggest games.”

The prospects of playing in football’s biggest game has driven him back to Gillette Stadium, where he is working out in preparation for the start of the team’s voluntary off-season conditioning program later this month.

“I’m very motivated. I need to get back to that game and we’ve got to win it this time,” said Ninkovich, who was a member of the 2011 Patriots team that lost Super Bowl XLVI, 21-17, to the New York Giants.

“Nobody thinks about the time and effort put into getting to a championship game – the workouts, the offseason, OTAs (organized team activities), mini-camp, training game, the 16 games that you’ve got to get through just into get to the playoffs and then getting to that AFC Championship Game.”

“It’s a long road, so it’s a lot of work and to get back there I’ve got to do it all over again and I’m up for the challenge,” said Ninkovich. “So I want to get back.”

The road Ninkovich took to the NFL was a long and winding one.

Permanent employment in the league didn’t come easily for Ninkovich, who entered the league as a fifth-round draft pick out of Purdue in 2006.

Waived four times by New Orleans and Miami, even trying to reinvent himself as a long snapper during a period in which he appeared in all of eight games, little did Ninkovich know it but when he signed with the Patriots on Aug. 2, 2009, he’d found himself a permanent home.

Breaking into the starting lineup with 10 starts in 2010 before becoming a full-time starter the following season, Ninkovich has spent time at both defensive end and linebacker, recovering a league-leading 11 fumbles over the past four years.

“We’ve done some good things so far, and it’s not over yet,” said Ninkovich, who has been pleased with the moves the team has made in the offseason leading up to his sixth season in New England.

Page 2 of 2 - “You’re aware of the things that are going on,” said Ninkovich. “I think the coaching staff and personnel (department) are always going to do the best thing for our team.

“I’m happy to have some new guys coming in and we’ve got the best corner in the league (Darrelle Revis) coming in. That’s always a good thing for a defensive end like myself. Just give me a little bit more time. I’m happy with that.”

The team’s other addition at the cornerback position, 6-foot-4, 220-pound Brandon Browner led Ninkovich to crack “the guy’s bigger than me.”

Working out with Jerod Mayo, Ninkovich offered a first-hand account of the veteran linebacker in his rehab from the pectoral tear that limited him to six games last season, saying “he’s looking good right now.”

Mayo’s presence in the weight room, Ninkovich said, helps push him to where he aims to go.

“I’ve been training with him a long time,” said Ninkovich. “It’s always good to have somebody there to push you, make you better than what you are.”

Ninkovich reported that “guys are starting to come in, sprinkle in from traveling around.

“We’ve improved,” he said of the team’s moves, with the draft now less than one month away, “but we’ve got to put in the work and that starts now, starts in the offseason. You have the talent, but you’ve got to put in the work together to get to that ultimate goal.”

Glen Farley may be reached at gfarley@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GFarley_ent.